The Medusa has been stationed around Regula 4, supporting miners who seek a mineral which extends human life by fifteen years. It seemed a simple job, as the colonists are the descendants of people who subscribed to a Back-to-Nature belief; they should have posed no problem for the technologically superior Medusa.
But the Medusa has encountered problems: a series of incidents that verge on terrorism. The Excalibur has been called in to investigate. Capt. Gideon considers Medusa's captain to be drunk or worse, for among his complaints are attacks by a golden dragon! But despite Galen's disbelief, Gideon has agreed to check in on these problems.
It takes only a few hours planetside for Gideon to discover both the source for Galen's amusement and the Medusa's concern. There is a Technomage present: an old friend of Galen's named Alwyn. From him, Gideon learns that there are considerable problems caused by Medusa, not the least being a strip-mining of the land. Protests have been laughed at or ignored by the captain. So Alwyn has decided to fight for his world and the problem threatens to spin out of control!